TY - JOUR TI - Independent amylase gene copy number bursts correlate with dietary preferences in mammals AU - Pajic, Petar AU - Pavlidis, Pavlos AU - Dean, Kirsten AU - Neznanova, Lubov AU - Romano, Rose-Anne AU - Garneau, Danielle AU - Daugherity, Erin AU - Globig, Anja AU - Ruhl, Stefan AU - Gokcumen, Omer A2 - Perry, George H A2 - Tautz, Diethard A2 - Perry, George H VL - 8 PY - 2019 DA - 2019/05/14 SP - e44628 C1 - eLife 2019;8:e44628 DO - 10.7554/eLife.44628 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.44628 AB - The amylase gene (AMY), which codes for a starch-digesting enzyme in animals, underwent several gene copy number gains in humans (Perry et al., 2007), dogs (Axelsson et al., 2013), and mice (Schibler et al., 1982), possibly along with increased starch consumption during the evolution of these species. Here, we present comprehensive evidence for AMY copy number expansions that independently occurred in several mammalian species which consume diets rich in starch. We also provide correlative evidence that AMY gene duplications may be an essential first step for amylase to be expressed in saliva. Our findings underscore the overall importance of gene copy number amplification as a flexible and fast evolutionary mechanism that can independently occur in different branches of the phylogeny. KW - copy number variation KW - adaptation KW - structural variation KW - human commensalism KW - starch KW - saliva JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -